Author: Bo Carter

FM Issue: November December 2018

Just over 40 years ago, visiting fans at the Louisiana Superdome (now the Mercedes-Benz Superdome) were somewhat startled to see beverage carts with cold malt beverage bottles (safely transferred to plastic cups after sales), famous New Orleans hurricane mixed drinks, and a wide variety of bourbons and other ales.

Cash-strapped Tulane athletics, which later moved its football games to cozy Yulman Stadium from the dome, was doing everything it could after the Superdome opened in 1975 to enhance revenue and provide convenience for fans. Plus, the urban setting made traditional fans’ tailgating a difficult task around the historic facility.

In the same vein, Colorado athletics, which constructed the CU Events Center in 1979 and later renamed it the Coors Events Center in 1990 after a $5 million gift from the Adolph Coors Brewing Co., began Coors beer sales at its football facility – Folsom Field – in 1990 and ended them from 1996-2013 after a postgame fracas between Colorado and Texas A&M fans in 1995 following a 29-21 Colorado victory. Alcohol was suspected to be a major reason for the brawl.

Ironically, the two teams began competing in the Big 12 Conference the next season in 1996 and never had additional dustups.

Bottom line: both Tulane and Colorado had alcoholic beverage sales long before most NCAA schools adopted the policies, and that public consumption landscape has changed drastically in the last decade.

With costs rising and family budgets being stretched for the sports entertainment dollar, there are an estimated 50-plus NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision members (the largest college football competitors), out of 130 total FBS schools, selling alcoholic beverages publicly inside stadiums during the 2018 season.

These numbers now include church-related schools, such as Southern Methodist and Syracuse, for both football and basketball events on campus, and the figures continue to grow.

With the influx of public sales of malt and stronger beverages at campus facilities, there also is growing concern about safety for spectators and security within numerous college venues.

Besides the widespread public sales now occurring, for decades schools with paid guest suites allowed alcoholic beverage sales for the suites’ patrons only. while thirsty fans in seating areas below looked on with envy at the lucky suite patrons.

Now, the great rise in public alcohol sales at college sports venues has raised revenue ($500,000-plus for West Virginia athletics for 2015-16 in one recent media report), but has brought about increased awareness in student-athletes, coaches, game officials, and fan safety.

One example in the 1990s was at a Big 12 Conference Men’s Basketball championship at Kansas City’s Kemper (now Hy-Vee) Arena. The Big 12 began selling beer publicly at all its championships, beginning with the 1996 Dr Pepper Football Championship at St. Louis in December 1996.

A prominent Big 12 director of athletics at the basketball tourney was seated with his wife and two young sons, when a suspected alcohol-related skirmish began behind him. He quickly summoned security, but had to subdue one of the perpetrators with a shot to the right cheek to put an end to that encounter. Officials at all college and professional venues continue to be keenly aware of these situations and have taken, and continue to take, necessary steps to assure that consumption is within legal limits and orderly.

“Of course, we have been monitoring increased public alcohol sales at college venues and the possible repercussions,” said Jill Pepper, executive director of the Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management (TEAM) Coalition. “So far, there have been very limited incidents, and we have emphasized designated drivers or private transportation for those who might be over the legal alcohol limits.”

The TEAM Coalition website also offers sound advice for coping with potential problem areas in its mission statement.

“The organization encourages facilities to implement and enforce alcohol policies through an alcohol service training program that educates and certifies all facility employees in the skills of how to identify patrons who may have over-consumed and to intervene in a non-confrontational way to properly ensure everyone’s safety,” noted the statement. “In addition, TEAM outreach extends beyond sports facilities to target fans in support of designated driver programs and other traffic safety measures.”

With those safeguards in mind, venue managers and college game management nationwide have utilized several imaginative measures to encourage good times at college events in and out of stadiums and arenas but at the same time to perform sound and practical means of preventing mishaps and avoiding in-contest clashes.

Others in the thick of the “arms race” seemingly to raise money through alcoholic beverage sales have ideas about stemming behavioral challenges and providing optimum environments for people wishing to have a drink and enjoy their favorite teams.

UT-San Antonio athletics is one of the universities with a very sensible approach to alcohol sales in its home venue – the Alamodome.

Darren D’Attilio, assistant vice president for athletics resource development at UTSA, noted some techniques that the department of athletics uses there to interact with alumni and to encourage good sportsmanship and behavior at football events.

“We try to take time to greet as many alumni and friends of UTSA as possible before, during, and after the games at the Alamodome,” D’Attilio said. “This may seem like common practice, but we want to encourage our alumni and fans to enjoy the games and behave responsibly. These meet-and-greets have worked very well in the short time our current staff has been at UTSA (since July 2018).”

There are some universities from prominent conferences who prefer to let fans tailgate, fix favorite foods, and imbibe their favorite beverages in pleasant situations without having to provide in-stadium or in-arena beverage sales.

Prominent Southeastern Conference members Mississippi State and Ole Miss have long and traditional tailgating activities and team pregame walks through the crowds, and their fans have taken the high road with respect to outside stadium alcohol usage.

“We haven’t crossed that Rubicon yet,” laughed Mississippi State spokesperson and historian Sid Salter. “Our fans set up tents, gather around various travel vehicles and enjoy the food, fun, and fellowship before and after watching the Bulldogs play.”

Ole Miss University Police voiced similar thoughts about fans dining and drinking in the historic Oxford, Miss., square and then adjourning to The Grove – one of the most prominent and well-known tailgating and picnicking locations in college football.

“There have been a few times where University Police had to pour out drinks when things became a little unruly after games,” said an Ole Miss security department staffer, “but the crowds have been well behaved and responsible for the most part. They want to be sober and enjoy SEC football with family and friends.”

In many cases, beer and wine have been available immediately outside football stadiums, during such events as the annual AT&T Red River Showdown between Oklahoma and Texas and the State Fair Classic between Grambling and Prairie View A&M at the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. Though the stadium prohibits alcohol beverages inside its seating bowl, there are numerous dispensing stands within easy walking distance of the 88-year-old facility.

West Virginia director of athletics Shane Lyons also notes that college football and basketball enthusiasts (and even baseball fans treated to public beer and wine sales at such athletic venues as those at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas) seem to utilize their common sense and intelligence when it comes to in-stadium consumption.

“We have fans who love the Mountaineers,” Lyons said, “but at the same time they respect their fellow fans and visitors at the WVU sports venues. College fans are a special group and know their limits for consumption. Plus, as others have said, they want to watch and enjoy the games, and the public sales are more of a convenience than anything else. The income derived from public sales at our venues goes to scholarships and many other crucial aspects of running the West Virginia athletics department, and it has been a benefit for us.”

Bo Carter is a freelance writer based in Carrollton, Texas.